Category: Classics

What are the ingredients for an enjoyable murder mystery? Take Agatha Christie, add a famous, Belgian detective, a dash of a humorous butler, an unexpected guest, complex, well-developed characters and you have Hercule Poirot’s Christmas.

Agatha Christie’s seasonal book, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, was originally published in 1939. It is the 19th book in the Hercule Poirot Mystery Series and is Christie’s response to the criticism of her brother-in-law. He told her that her murders were getting too refined. Therefore, Christie dedicated this book to her brother-in-law, James with “You yearned for a good violent murder with lots of blood … so this is your special story.”

The Physicists was written by the author, Friedrich Dürrenmatt in 1961. Dürrenmatt is a twentieth-century, Swiss playwright, novelist and essayist who is renowned for his philosophical crime novels (The Inspector Barlach Mysteries: The Judge and His Hangman and Suspicion) as well as in his satiric, tragic-comic dramas that are centered around post-World War II. The Physicists is his first classically constructed work and is generally considered his best play. It deals with the ethics of science. In 1963, the play was performed worldwide and was finally staged in New York in 1964. If you don’t mind spoilers, continue reading.

We took the opportunity to review books and movies for the 2016 Christmas season. Be sure to check out our reviews:

Books

If you are you enjoy mysteries by the author Mary Higgins Clark, we recommend her holiday detective stories. In The Christmas Thief, the amateur sleuth, Alvirah Meehan, once again teams up with the private investigator Regan Reilly.

David Baldacci, known for his Will Robie and Amos Decker series, departs from his typical thriller books and takes a dive into the contemporary in The Christmas Train.

If you are looking for is a cute story that is a little cheeky with an off-the-wall humor, try Mythology 101 by Jody Lynn Nye.

Movies

Tim Burton’s dark Christmas movie brings in Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, who is totally fed up with screaming and scaring. Instead, accompany Jack Skellington as he spreads Christmas joy. The Nightmare before Christmas has been digitally remastered and is Amazon choice.

This movie is based on John Grisham’s book, “Skipping Christmas” and it became on instant family classic. If you looking for a humorous movie, enjoy Christmas with the Kranks.

Ebeneze Scrooge is a miser that considers the Christmas tradition frivolous and an employee having a paid day off as a way to pick a man’s pocket. He is visited by three spirits that will show him who he is and where he’s going if his cruel ways continue.

The Lottery (Tale Blazers) is a short story by Shirley Jackson first published in the New Yorker on June 26, 1948. The story chronicles an annual tradition in a small, contemporary, American town called The Lottery (Tale Blazers) in which families pull marked stones and the “winning family” pulls individual stones to determine which member will have the honor of making the ultimate sacrifice for a perceived greater good.

An imagined story of Jane Austen’s life in which she longs for companionship and love. Will she find what she’s looking for at a ball in honor of her sister and herself hosted by their brother at Godmersham Park?